Status of hunter recruitment and retention in the United States

Participation indicators of hunter recruitment and retention in the United States (U.S.) point to decreasing trends, although some regions of the coun try are experiencing slight increases in hunter-education graduates and lic ense buyers. If the overall declining trends persist, they could have serio us implications for continuation of some wildlife agency programs that depe nd on hunters for political, financial, or harvest-related support. Superfi cially, these trends also might be interpreted to indicate lessening need f or programs aimed at providing hunting recreation or maintaining cultural b enefits relating to hunting. Consequently, it is important to understand wh ether participation indicators tell the whole story regarding hunter recrui tment and retention. Social-psychological indicators also need to be taken into account and definitions of recruitment and retention need to be consid ered carefully. Integrating social-psychological and participation indicato rs suggests that recruitment and retention may be decreasing, but at a rate slower than participation indicators alone would depict. More emphasis on measuring social-psychological indicators could have several important bene fits that lead to more positive implications for wildlife agency programs.